Easley Library Bookworms discussion

Like YA books, children's books aren't always only for children; and Easley Library's steadily-growing children's book collection sees a lot of use for a variety of purposes. Here's Crystal's review of one of our most notable books in this collection, the Newbery Award-winning The Graveyard Book by acclaimed British author Neil Gaiman: www.goodreads.com/review/show/116587552 .

One of my favorite book series of all time is the Harry Potter series, of which Easley Library has every volume. I've read all of them, but so far I've only reviewed the first one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; that review is here: www.goodreads.com/review/show/18379582 . This is one that could just as well be linked to in our group's Supernatural Fiction reviews thread (maybe I'll eventually cross-post the link there).

Werner, since The Giver is coming out in theaters, soon, do you have a review of that? It's been a long time since I read it, and I think I need to re-familiarize myself with it.

Paula, good question; but no, I don't. :-( I've never read anything by Lowry. Sorry about that!

20th-century American author Marguerite Henry's many nonfiction books were usually marketed to children, but they're the kind of thing that can interest adults as well --especially adults (like my wife) who love horses, since Henry's writings are very often horse-related. Here's the link to my review of one of her best-known books, Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West: www.goodreads.com/review/show/27502832 .

I don't read a lot of children's literature at my time of life, and with all of my daughters grown up, but From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was a loaner, and a recommendation, from my oldest grandson and fellow avid reader Philip (who's currently the same age as Konigsburg's protagonist here). Never having read the book in the decades since it was published (though of course I'd heard of it), I didn't know what to expect going into it, but as it turned out, I liked it enough to give it three stars. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

My first five-star review of 2018 went up last night, of Lois Lowry's acclaimed children's novel Number the Stars: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... . If you're an adult reader who doesn't think children's literature could possibly have anything to offer you, and/or if you're a reader who shies away from Holocaust fiction --read this one anyway! I'd also recommend it to fans of World War II historical fiction, though it's not technically "historical" from Lowry's perspective. But really, I'd recommend it to anyone.

Earlier this year, someone in one of my other groups proposed doing a Christmas-themed common read in December. Having some vague memories of having watched part of the movie 46 years ago, and knowing that we had a copy of the book in the BC library and that it was apt to be a quick, easy read, I suggested The House Without a Christmas Tree by Gail Rock. As it turned out, I enjoyed it more than I'd expected to! My four-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

For some time, I'd been intending to do a "retrospective" review today of Irene Hunt's Civil War novel Across Five Aprils, which I read as a kid back in the 60s. But at the last minute, I decided that one will need a reread in order to do it justice. So, instead, here's a review of an enduring 19th-century children's classic, Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Although I've reviewed almost every book I've read since joining Goodreads, I joined in my 50s; so obviously I read quite a few books before that. Relatively few of those have been reviewed; but I try to review one every so often, as I have time to, and I wrote one of those reviews just now. This one is of Robin Hood (1912) by British author Henry Gilbert --and it goes back a LONG way, since I read it as a seven-year-old child, back in about 1959. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Today I finished, and reviewed, The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively, which I've been reading as a common read in another group. It was my first exposure to the author's work; I liked the book from the start, but ultimately rated it higher than I'd originally expected to, as I explain in my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Marketed for younger readers, The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton was published in 1968, the year I turned 16. Of course, there's often no reader more eager to turn up a nose to "children's" books than a callow teen anxious to prove he's an adult, and this is one of many books I missed back then on that account. But I've finally remedied that, and my four-star review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

The Thanksgiving Treasure by Gail Rock is the second book in the author's Addie Mills series (the series opener is The House Without a Christmas Tree). As I expected, it proved to be a quick, seasonally appropriate read. The series was marketed to kids, but is really suitable for all ages. Here's my four-star review, which also has a link to my review of the first book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

The first time I read Natalie Babbitt's best-known novel, Tuck Everlasting, was at least 20 years ago, before Goodreads existed. I wanted to finally review it, but knew I could do it better justice after a reread.
This time, I shared the read with my wife. It's a book written for younger readers, and we're both in our 70s; but we both appreciated it immensely. :-) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt was a reread for me; but since my prior read was as a kid back in the mid 60s, a lot of it I experienced very much as I would a new-to-me book. (There were a number of incidents and lines of dialogue that I remembered very well, though, besides the bare bones of the plot and premise!) This is a very good historical novel of the Illinois home front in the Civil War. My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .

Marguerite Henry is a well-represented author in our children's collection. Justin Morgan Had a Horse is one of her better-known works; but I wasn't as impressed with it as I was with the few others by her that I've read, and didn't find it very accurate as historical fiction. Here's the link to my three-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... .